Keeping Secrets
by ClockedStop
Summary: Tsuna likes being invisible. Sure he was smarter than he acted, wasn't naïve as his mamma and wasn't stupid like his father but that didn't mean he wanted to stand out and being a Mafia Boss was for sure, standing out. Standing out was Hidetada's job and he was more than happy to keep it that way. Too bad he was living with the world's greatest hitman, Reborn.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Keeping Secrets**  
Genre:** Adventure  
**Rating:** T**  
Notes:** Mature Language/Themes, _OOC characters_, Google Translate, _mainly_ Manga-verse  
**Summary:** Tsuna likes being invisible. Sure he was smarter than he acted, wasn't naïve as his mamma and wasn't stupid like his father but that didn't mean he wanted to stand out and being a Mafia Boss was for sure, standing out. Standing out was Hidetada's job and he was more than happy to keep it that way. Too bad he was living with the world's greatest hitman, Reborn.

**A/N:** Allô! I've been actually working on this wayyyy before I started to work on Duality of Souls, ha ha.  
I personally love the idea of a twinfic in KHR but gosh, there so few twinfics that have Tsuna being treated nicely… I mean having siblings is rough but whoa, some of them are pretty hardcore.  
A quick heads-up first, for majority of the foreign languages it's probably gonna be google translated and I got no idea (besides some basic French) if it's gonna be correct or not so desolé for any mistakes. Some dialogue will just be italicized to indicate it's being said in another language so we're not all lost in the conversation, ha ha. Anyway, merci beaucoup for taking the time to read this!

And, if anyone's annoyed of Iemitsu-bashing be warned, there's plenty of it.

Disclaimer, by no means do I own KHR! This is just for fun! C:

"Speaking", _"Thinking"_, _Mail_

**Secret 01**

Words, rows and rows of words, all printed in a black ink that was beginning to fade from age. It had spine that was wearing down from constant bending and pages were ruffled from fingers constantly flipping through them. The yellowing pages were filled and separated with words that were put orderly together in two columns. It was filled with familiar and unfamiliar looking letters.

A small boy with feathery-soft brown hair that spiked up in haphazardly way, as though it was a nest had a light flush of wonder painted his squishy-cheeks. His large caramel eyes glittered with wonder and his short chubby fingers pondered across the open page. Each one of his tiny digits scrolled over a word, his eyes never losing the bright awe that swam in them.

The words and the pages came from a book, a dictionary. It was a small but thick book, translating various Japanese words to Italian ones. Not that it was apparent to the child, as they just looked like scribbles to him. He could not read any of the strange scribbles nor could he understand them, but that only made him even more curious of the words.

The small brunet curved his expression into a bright smile. He wanted to understand what each word meant; he wanted to make sense of the pretty scribbles that were printed on the thin pages. He wanted to read these words.

That was the year when four-year old Sawada Tsunayoshi taught himself Italian.

…

"Hey, Hide!"

A young five-year old boy called out. His knees and red shorts were smudged with dirt and elbows covered with bright superhero-themed plasters, his black hair stuck out underneath his baseball cap and he wore a grey t-shirt with a large smile printed on it. The child's face was set into a wide grin as he stood, waving, in front of the Sawada's home, over to another boy that was sitting next to Tsuna in their front yard.

The said boy and Tsuna shared similar looks. Only he had a slightly shorter-spiky brown hair but mixed with light-faded yellow, like his hair couldn't decide between the color of the earth or the sun. His skin was more sunbathed than Tsuna's and instead of caramel eyes he had bright hazelnut ones, wearing a bright blue t-shirt and dark green shorts to Tsuna's pale orange shirt and grey shorts. The boy hopped to his feet and sprinted over to the gates, smiling brightly to the other boy that waved.

"Haruto!" Hidetada, the older of the Sawada twins, exclaimed with an energetic voice. "What's up? No wait, lemme guess! You guys gonna play baseball, am I right?"

The two children gave each other a toothy grin.

"Yup, Yamamoto's reeeeaaal good too!" Haruto teased with a childish-giggle, "Everyone's saving that he can beat even you!"

"Ha, there's no way! I'll show them just who's the best! Just lemme just ask Ka-san first though," Hide said with a joking smugness before he turned back towards the house but just after a single step, the brunet paused looking at Tsuna who still had his nose in his book. He thought for a moment before hesitantly calling out to his twin, "Hey Tsu, wanna come too?"

The cheery boy tried his best to ignore the small groan behind him but his grin fell and became a bit sheepish.

"It's okay if you're not good at baseball, no one's good at everything ya'know?"

This made Tsuna look up from his book, giving his brother a questioning look. The brunet kept his fingers in his book as a marker for his place in the thin book and stayed quiet for a moment before lightly shaking his head with a small smile. He was no good when it came to sports and preferred reading books or learning something new and interesting... Not to mention most of the time he did take part in sports, one way or another he would end up being hit in the face by a stray ball that just happened to fly his way.

"Mm, I'm okay." Tsuna tilted his head in thought, "Besides I can tell Mamma, you're going to go out and play but… Papa and his guest are going to come visit tomorrow, so don't stay out too late."

"Come let's go!" Haruto scowled and tugged on Hide's arm, he continued with his words before Hide could say anything. The child made sure to drawl his words out longer, jeering the younger brunet. "He's obviously too busy being a _bookworm_ to play ball!"

"Don't call my brother that," Hide scowled at his friend but his smile returned quickly looking back to Tsuna, "And got it! See you later, Tsu!"

The two boys dragged each other away, shoving each other roughly but in a sort-of playful-childish manner. Tsuna watched them until they disappeared from his sight, before he got up to his feet and patted any dirt off his pants with one hand, the other holding his book. His brows knitted together in deep thought, as he walked towards the front gate, closing it properly before turning on his heel to the front door.

"_That's the umpteenth time I've been called a bookworm."_ Tsuna pouted in his thoughts, _"Why everyone makes such a big deal with me reading… Isn't learning suppose to be normal for children?"_

The five-year old's pout turned into a scowl, as he remembered a few weeks ago, two of his classmates had thrown one of his books into a puddle. A puddle that was muddy, ruining his book.

All because his classmates thought he was being 'selfish' for not giving away his book and saying that they wouldn't understand what the book said, as it was written in Italian. Even some of his teachers were infuriating, treating him like a mindless child and telling him what he could and couldn't do. Or act as though he was the one at fault when trouble arose, when really it wasn't and it just the teachers' prejudice against him. Really, how was he labeled a 'trouble maker' for reading foreign books and unable to draw?

The child shook his head, shaking away his thoughts away before he could remember how horrible last year was. During the time when he was just figuring out Italian on his own and the neighbourhood mothers and grandmothers cooed at him for being 'sooooo adorable' as he pronounced a word _wrong_.

Even Nana kept gushing over him in an irking way, constantly saying he was just like his father. A father he didn't even know or remember period and Tsuna firmly believed that knowing the same language did not equal being 'just like his father'. The only thing he was thankful for was probably how the man left his various Italian-Japanese dictionaries and other books of the sort out in the open, otherwise Tsuna was sure he would be bored to death right now without something to keep him occupied.

Of course he had long grasped Italian (after numerous embarrassing failures trying to figure out how to speak it) and was moving onto French. The brunet enjoyed seeing the different letters written together and planned to learn at least one more language after he mastered French, perhaps English. Languages were quite interesting to learn and the fun and outweighed the stares and sneers he received.

"_Though…"_ The petit boy rubbed his fingers over the smooth cover of his book while humming in thought. _"It is a little annoying when my books get ruined…"_

He stepped inside the house and slipped his shoes off, calling out to his mother when he passed by the kitchen. Stopping to tell her about his older brother going out to play with his friends and carefully went his way up the stairs and at the top of the staircase, the five-year old realized something.

It would be easier if people just didn't notice him.

If no one noticed him then he wouldn't be ridiculed or bothered when reading, there wouldn't be anyone to take his books or call him names and no one would 'accidently' toss that stray ball at him. It wouldn't be hard either, to keep attention away from him, to keep all eyes off him. He would just stop reading during school, drop his grades down to average ones, speak even lesser than he did before, and since Hide already drew more attention to himself than Tsuna.. it wouldn't be too hard to make his brother's spotlight a little brighter. A giddy smile crept up on little Tsuna's lips, his fingers lightly gripped the rim of his book.

It would be perfect, Tsuna would become invisible.

…

"Hide, Tuna-fish, meet Timoteo-san."

The brunet forced down a scowl keeping a blank smile on his face. A blond man wearing a black suit stood tall and unfamiliar to Tsuna, from what Nana and Hide had told him, this was their father. He still considered the man as a stranger and wasn't exactly starting with a good impression on the boy with how he called Tsuna, _Tuna-fish._ How did that even make sense?

"This is my boss at work and is going stay with us for a week."

The boy made a silent huff and hid partly behind his brother, sneaking a look to the other man next to the blond. He was much older, his face wrinkled and his hair already grey. The man, Timoteo wore a sand-colored hat, a blue Hawaiian shirt decorated with purplish flowers and short khakis. The elder man approached both him and Hide and crouched down, looking at them both closer and giving them both a smile that made his face wrinkle, showing just how aged his skin was. His eyes were a soft brown filled with kindness that made Tsuna feel warm just looking at them.

"Hello," the older man's lips curved as he spoke the smile never leaving them, his bushy mustache moved with each word. His Japanese held a slight accent but fit the man perfectly, "I heard a lot about you two, you can both just call me grandpa."

Tsuna felt his chest bubble with warmth; something told him he would like this man.

"Nice to meet you, Oji-san!" Hide grinned and quickly ran to attach himself onto Iemitsu's leg, looking to up to the man with bright eyes. "Ne, ne, Tou-san you're staying for a while, right? 'Cause Tsu doesn't remember you and won't believe me and Ka-san that you're our Tou-san! So you better make it up to him 'kay?"

Tsuna held back a giggle, seeing the man stiffen awkwardly a little before making a grin at Hide and looking over to Tsuna.

"Of course! We're going to spend lots of time together, just like now."

…

Tsuna couldn't help snort watching Iemitsu and Nana coo over Hide. The twins' parents were currently gushing over how amazing Hide was for getting such good marks while still being busy with his clubs. Tsuna forced down his laughter, if only they knew it was because of Tsuna that Hide wasn't flunking his classes. Asking his brother's help and ending up subtly helping him instead was quite easy to do, especially since Hide had a slight complex to help Tsuna as the big brother… Hopefully it wouldn't worsen over the next few years.

But it was really too easy for his parents to focus on his older brother, it would have made Tsuna incredibly envious if he didn't relish it. As, all it really did was make things easier for Tsuna to become invisible.

The brunet glanced over to the blond man that grinned widely, the broad grin was probably the only thing that convinced Tsuna he was their father. His smile immensely resembled Hide's, a fact that made the brunet slightly distraught. If everything he was told was the truth, Tsuna did not want his brother to grow up to be like their father.

The boy still couldn't believe the man was a construction worker that dug _oil_ for his work. Tsuna wasn't exactly sure if oil diggers and construction were in the same department, but there were more than enough hints to know something was odd. Particularly how Iemitsu's boss didn't exactly strike Tsuna as someone who worked in the construction department and the subtle hints of the man's legs weakening, as subtle as it was, the man's age was getting to him. Of course there was finally what their father _wore_ when he arrived with his boss. Really what kind of construction worker that digs for oil, comes home wearing a business suit?

Not to mention Timeoto wasn't even wearing anything remotely formal, this was way too out of place for Tsuna to miss.

Although, Tsuna looked at his knees, continuing to muse in his thoughts, he was quite relieved and thankful of not having to see the man waltz home wearing that infamous orange-jumpsuit he's heard so much about (sure Tsuna liked orange but he wasn't obsessed to the point of wanting to see it on someone else) or having to see the man laze around in his boxers and snoring around all day. Iemitsu was already difficult for Tsuna to respect in general (let alone as his father). It wouldn't exactly help seeing him drooling, sprawled and snoring loudly on the hardwood floor clad only in his boxers.

Tsuna shuddered to the image and sincerely hoped the day he saw the man like that, never came.

"Tsunayoshi-kun?"

Tsuna jostled out of his thoughts, quickly giving a moment of surprise as he looked to his side where Nana was. Instead of seeing his mother, he saw Timeoto giving him an odd look, the boy flushed with mild embarrassment. He hadn't noticed the elder man sitting there or his mother leaving, he was too occupied with his thoughts. He snuck a few quick glances around, looking for Hide. The older brunet was in the yard with Iemitsu, the two in the middle of a friendly-brawl, laughing loudly as though it were normal for a five-year old to tackle down a fully-grown adult and manage to make him fall.

Tsuna made a small smile when his brother's eyes met with his and gave him an even wider grin, still sitting on top of their father's stomach. His brother waved energetically to him, a gesture inviting Tsuna to join the two. The boy's smile drooped a little but returned the wave, however he made no move to budge from his spot. He instead looked back to his still waiting grandfather or as Tsuna enjoyed to call, Nonno.

"Si, Nonno?" Tsuna let the Italian words roll off his tongue, not wanting to waste the chance of actually practicing the language with someone who was fluent in it. He would had tried practicing with Iemitsu, seeing as it was that man's book he used to learn the language in the first place, but something about that gave idea made Tsuna scowl; most likely because of how that strange nickname didn't settle well with him. "Posso aiutarla?"

"_No, no, there's nothing I need_…" Timeoto smiled as he shook his head lightly, "_Tsunayoshi-kun, I may be just imagining things but it feels like you're holding back, and deliberately avoiding others. Are you?_"

The brunet blinked, completely taken for surprised. In just two days, the elderly man was able to see through Tsuna's act which wasn't much of a feat per say (seeing as he completely flipped his outward character) but no one else had even noticed. Most adults just brushed it off as Tsuna finally being 'normal' and acting like his age (albeit polite), only his brother took mild notice slightly suspicious of someone bullying Tsuna which was easily fixed with a small fluttery smile and a _Ni-san, please don't worry so much_. So it was quite surprising that someone who was a stranger not even a few days or week ago was able to notice. It may have been Tsuna's acting skills were really horrendous and everyone around him just chose not to care, or it may have been that Iemitsu actually knew Tsuna and not from Nana's gushing or through photos.

It may have been neither of those and something different all together even, but it didn't change the fact Tsuna's growing interest in Timeoto. He was curious about the man, with how he held himself with a serenity that made Tsuna actually feel like he wasn't ridiculed and how the man's eyes held both tiredness and warmth that made his own chest bubble with a calming sensation.

The brunet was liking this man more and more, he gave a shy smile to his grandpa.

"Well, it's easier like this..." he rubbed his hands together in a nervous fit, he felt his chest tighten and could tell that he should be truthful, "No one takes my books or treats me differently and I don't mind if onii-san gets more attention than me. He's the type that strives with people around him."

The child looked up to the man he could see as more of father than grandfather, his caramel eyes gazed into the man's soft-brown ones. He searched for hints of displeasure, discomfort, anything that would turn into a feeling of rejection of him but all he saw were those same kind-eyes that drew him in like moth to flame, the eyes that brought him a warm and comfortable feeling in his chest. That was how Tsuna knew Timeoto wasn't going to judge him, wasn't going to disdain him and wasn't going to push him away like some strange freak of a child. The realization made relief wash over him and Tsuna didn't even realize until now, just how anxious he really was about Timeoto's thoughts of him. The way he could draw Tsuna in, without the child even realizing until now, awed Tsuna. It was proof the man beside him was someone really interesting, important and special.

"EEK!" a loud wail was accompanied by a harsh thud and deep bark, stealing Tsuna's attention away from Timeoto and making him look over to his brother where he was laid flat on the ground with a dog pounced on his back, pinning him down with its weight. The child wondered briefly on how the animal managed to get inside the yard but disregarded the thought, as that wasn't exactly important right now, right now his brother needed help.

Just as Tsuna stood up, he saw it. It was a bright burning orange fire, blazing around Hide like a blanket. It danced protectively around the older brunet, scaring the dog away leaving with a sharp whine and left Tsuna mesmerized in the burning flames. He barely noticed the jolt of movement from beside him and the worried look of his father's face. Both Iemitsu and Timeoto were by Hide's side just as the bright flames died down, leaving Hide wheezing for air. The action reminded Tsuna that he himself needed to let out his breath and breathe in new air.

He took a sharp breath in when Timeoto turned to him, his eyes glinting with something strange and the serenity became authority.

"Tsunayoshi-kun, go get Nana-san."

Dumbly Tsuna nodded, stumbling on his feet nearly tripping back inside the house. He took quick and quiet steps past the door and shot behind the wall, keeping his beating heart quiet with small breaths. He wasn't going to just let himself be left out; he waited for a few moments before hearing muffled mumbles before taking a peek back outside. Straining his ears, the boy tried his best to make out what they were talking about.

"Nono…think…but…Vongola…!"

Tsuna frowned, barely hearing any of Iemitsu and Timeoto's words. They were acting very secretive if they were whispering even when they had Tsuna 'leave'. And why was Iemitsu referring to Timeoto as 'Nonno'? The elder man didn't seem that old compared to Iemitsu. Though there was another word that sounded similar to grandpa in Italian but 'ninth' made no sense either to Tsuna, 'clam' being mentioned just confused him further. What on earth did clam have anything to do with those flames?

The child's brows scowled together, he didn't like being left in the dark, so he listened in a little longer.

"…_I'll…seal…flames_," this time it was Timeoto's voice, his words Tsuna could barely fumble together as the two switched to Italian; making their conversation a tad harder to follow. Still peeking from his spot he saw Timeoto press his index finger to Hide's forehead and almost missed the small orange flicker on the man's forefinger.

The brunet as quietly as he could, spun on his heel and ran over to the kitchen with his heart racing wildly in his chest. Millions of questions rushed through the child's mind. Like what was that fire? What was Vongola for? Or why is his Nonno, 'Nono' to Iemitsu? Was it really 'Nono' or was it just 'Nonno'? Why did they both know about the fire? What did Timeoto do to Hide? Why did he do it? And why were they being so secretive of it?

Tsuna wondered all kinds of things but he was certain of something. His father and grandpa were definitely not construction workers and they were far from normal. Normal people wouldn't react so calmly, no, a normal person would have had screamed or froze in horror and panic if someone they knew right in front of them had lighted on fire.

His footsteps bounced as the brunet became giddy with excitement and the boy had to bite back a smile. He was going to find all about what they did, all about these flames and the Vongola. He was going to find out and know no matter what.

Oh, Tsuna was going to have fun.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Merci beaucoup, for taking the time to read or review!

And I know this whole hacker thing is a little (okay seriously overused) for Tsuna but it was fitting for indirect confrontations but it's mainly for information (as I can't imagine Tsuna being able to go to Italy or figure out things on his own without some kind of lead), he's not gonna hack for the rest of his life… Well for majority of the fic.

"Speaking", _"Thinking"_, _Mail_

**Secret 02**

Mafia, it was the mafia.

His father and grandfather, Iemitsu and Timeoto, were part of the Mafia. To be specific they were part of the Vongola which just so happened to be the most powerful famiglia out there (although Tsuna was still clueless as to why on earth they would name a mafia group 'Clam'). His father was the head of Consulenza Esterna Della Famiglia or CEDEF, external advisors for the Vongola and his 'Nonno' was _the Nono_, the Ninth boss of the Vongola. Even those flames he saw about three years ago were practically a symbol of Vongola, no. The flames were the symbol of the entire mafia world.

Tsuna wasn't sure what to think overall, though he had expected something that wasn't a construction worker, something maybe that wasn't ordinary but he certainly wasn't prepared for having Mafioso as a father or grandfather. Well, that explained the suit and why his father was never home. And it explained why hacking was the only fruitful search Tsuna did and it was no wonder he was at loss when looking for this in normal means. Books, people and the internet wouldn't exactly spoon-feed you important details of the underworld. Especially when it came to those flames or as they were called in the mafia world, Dying Will or Deathperation Flames. If those were something made public, Tsuna was positive it would cause riots around the world.

The flames were what seven-year old Tsuna could understand, a flame born your life-force. Originating from some kind of wave inside you that is able to ignite into flames from some kind of trigger like a powerful will and resolve, almost like magic really. And apparently from seeing Hide be able to bring such a brilliant flame out, it wasn't too difficult to unleash. Perhaps he could too? He should try but of course, that would be after he finishes learning all about this Vongola.

The seven-year old licked his lips with excitement, eying his laptop's screen. His mother was right; it would let Tsuna learn new things without needing pages to flip through. She really gave the boy the perfect present that year.

...

Finally after what were hours, weeks and months of trying, Tsuna had finally lit them. It had almost taken him a full year since he had started and he was just now progressing. Lighting the flames were a lot harder than he had first assumed, really it was easier to learn how to cover his trail online than bring out his flames.

Maybe it was because the brunet had wasn't exactly active or had stamina like his brother? That would explain why his brother was able to bring out such large flames without breaking in a heavy sweat like Tsuna did from just a palm-sized one. He should probably look into that.

The boy stared at the light that was wild and didn't hold a firm shape in his cupped hands. Tsuna wasn't too sure of the color of the flicking flames were exactly but they looked to be purple and a bit little pale but flickered to a darker hue at times, nothing like the bright orange he obsessed over and wished to see again and just when he thought of those gorgeous flames, Tsuna felt warmth grow in his chest. The eight-year old looked at his palms with glee when he saw the flicker dance, glare and blaze with more heat and morphed from its cool color to that glittering orange.

He smiled brightly; it was as mesmerizing as he remembered.

Tsuna then wondered what the other colors of the flames were about. The child had only read up on how to bring out the flames and skimmed about what they were, focusing on learning about the Vongola as his first priority. He briefly remembered something about seven types of flames or was it waves? He should look into that too.

For now though, Tsuna would just admire the glimmering light and enjoy himself like the child he was.

...

Seven flames of the Sky, colored different attributed and named after six different types of weathers that are in the sky and all had specific characteristics and abilities. The flames of the sky were named after the first generation guardians of the Vongola.

Tsuna rubbed his eyes feeling slightly drowsy for being up so late but he continued reading the walls of text on the screen.

Storm was red, able to destroy and disintegrate things faster than other flames. Rain was blue the tranquil flame, able to sooth like real rain. Sun flames were bright yellow and could energize with its activation trait, letting it heal and strengthen. Lightning was green and similar to Sun flames in a sense, able to harden objects to make a protective shield. Cloud flames were purple, able to absorb other flames to an extent and had a propagation effect.

Tsuna stifled a yawn, he checked the time, it was three in the morning but he returned to reading.

Indigo flames were Mist, a flame that could turn illusions into real ones. The brunet wasn't entirely sure what that meant period, so he shoved the concept of both illusions and 'real' illusions to the back of his head for later. Finally were the Sky flames, the orange Tsuna favored, holding a harmony trait; being the sky that influenced and accepted all. Apparently it was rare to have Sky flames but most bosses seemed to have the flame, so were sky bosses rare in the mafia? Then again he didn't know if that was how the mafia world actually worked or not.

By going off with what the child read, Tsuna had two or three flames. Sky, like his brother and either Cloud or Mist maybe even both of those, Tsuna wasn't sure the two colors were ridiculously similar to the boy (maybe the two purples meant something different?). The brunet pondered for a moment about the possibilities as to how he had multiple flames instead of just Sky ones but the boy shoved the thought away. He would think about that another day.

The brunet stretched in his bed. Tsuna had long decided to accept his birth-father and grandfather were part of the mafia. Even more so when he had down a background check on the Sawada family to seeing if there were any other relatives of his that were related to the Mafia.

The boy's findings were ironic to say at least; his ancestor, his great-great-great grandfather was the actual founder of Vongola and it turned out the mafia famigila hadn't even started as a mafia, it was just a vigilante group. This meant two things for Tsuna, one being this meant his Nonno was actually a distant-blood relative and two being that the Vongola wasn't always so dark. And from what Tsuna had learned about the Ninth, he was definitely not a cruel man ready to stain cities red with blood. If he was, Tsuna wouldn't have felt warmth around the elder man. Timeoto was definitely not a cruel man, he was kind and the man really grew on Tsuna during that week stay three years ago and was the first to see through Tsuna (and still was).

Tsuna let out long yawn and checked the time again, thirty after three, this was a good time to start he guessed. He closed the file about the flames, moving the mouse to open another file containing his little 'gift' for his other 'family'. The brunet smirked deviously, at first Tsuna had just planned to find out what his father and grandfather were hiding but after learning the secret, the eight-year old boy had decided to send his grandpa a gift, a gift that consisted of blackmail of some of Vongola's enemy famigilias.

He gave the collection of files he had collected over the last few weeks a quick glance over, feeling quite satisfied with his work. Tsuna nodded to himself with a giddy grin; he was excited to see just what kind of chaos he'll cause (hopefully not too much). If all went well, many of Vongola's enemies would be thrown for a loop and the bigger threats would lose their databases… Tsuna snickered to the idea of fully grown adults in the mafia going into a panic. It was really their fault for threatening Timeoto in the first place, not to mention it looked too much fun to do in the first place.

Now that Tsuna was ready to send his gift after a few long nights of gathering and piecing together, he needed to think of some kind of name he could use in _that_ side. The boy nibbled on his lips for a few minutes, trying to think of something. It was then the brunet thought back to the flames that idea popped up; if he was helping the Sky then he would be the 'Night'. Night written in English, it would be perfect the boy decided. He would be part of the sky but not really there, helping Vongola's Sky. Tsuna nodded to himself, it was perfect.

He zipped up his gift, moving onto another file that was little more personal for Tsuna. A small project of sweet, sweet revenge, teaching Iemitsu a lesson, of course it wasn't anything serious. The boy just made it so CEDEF's monitors would black out for three minutes. It would be a minute for every year Iemitsu missed a holiday, birthday and anniversary.

Personally Tsuna didn't really care about the man lying (he never bought the whole construction worker deal to begin with) as he never grew close to the man even when he did spend some time with Tsuna. Tsuna had long taken to like Timeoto more as a fatherly figure but of course his opinion was his own, completely different from the rest of the family. He felt a prickle of anger spike in his chest, Hide and Nana were still hopeful that blond would come to visit every year and still disheartened when he hadn't, thankfully both of them were easily cheered up but it didn't make Tsuna any happier with the CEDEF boss.

It didn't help that when he went through CEDEF's files, he saw another boy (a year older than the twins) being Iemitsu's 'apprentice'.

Tsuna may not know the exact details but this was _not_ fair to his family, to Hide and Nana that waited every year for him to come home. The brunet wouldn't let the man off easy for neglecting his family, for spending more time with his job than the woman he married not to mention lied to.

Not to mention he was honestly fed up with all the construction talk, Tsuna was almost tempted to throw in a picture of the man in his jumpsuit. That would show the rest of the mafia how stupid the CEDEF boss was… though that would probably send the man into panic and he would rush over to Namimori to tear it apart, looking for 'Night'. That was an unnecessary headache and he probably shouldn't, no matter how tempting.

…

_Ciao, ciao!  
A pleasure to meet you, Nono! We are Night, one with the Sky but not! Al vostro servizio! ^^  
We sincerely hope you enjoyed the gift prepared for you.  
Anyways! Onto business, we the Night offer our services to you! If you are interested please feel free to contact us about our services… and oh, do keep us a secret! Otherwise you might scare us away, we wouldn't want that right? ^^ Ciao!  
– The Night_

_P.S. This address is secure so don't bother trying to find where we are! We can't be the black Night without some mystery, si? _

…

Tsuna laughed until his stomach twisted and eyes watered, watching the product of his work was more amusing than he had expected.

Nearly all the families he had spread data about were running around in an inner turmoil, pointing to each other as traitors and panicking to remove all the evidence against them while they hid from other families. Even the families he technically helped were in confusion, all looking to Vongola to know who this 'Night' was but even they didn't know. The CEDEF was the best part of all of this, Tsuna was thankful he had the insight to record everything on the security system. Actually _seeing_ the chaos and panic on his father's face was glorious to the point the child almost wished he was there in person, watching all the CEDEF members run around trying to fix something that fix itself in three minutes.

Tsuna straightened up in his chair, rubbing his teary eyes with the back of his hand. He still needed to check the message his grandfather sent; he had replied sooner than the brunet thought.

_Ciao, Night,  
I am Vongola Nono but please call me Timeoto. I would like to thank you for your assistance though it has caused quite the ruckus. I would like to offer you a job within the Vongola. Perhaps we may come to an agreement on the matter?  
Do contact me again, when you have reached an answer.  
– Timeoto_

The eight year-old grinned, he was going to enjoy the next few years.

…

_Ciao! Signor Timeoto, we would love to accept your offer but we have some conditions.  
Don't worry they're simple enough!  
We just ask that only you know about us being involved with the Vongola (that means you only, so no to your friends, family and subordinates!) and that we do not give our face, voice, name, age, birth and all personal information. No knowing who the Night is, as the Notte wouldn't be Notte without its mystery!  
Of course, you're free to decline our conditions but we won't accept the contract. Though there is no need to worry about us becoming an enemy, after all the Night is the same as the Sky and we will be on the Sky's side so long as it's bright! ^^_

_We hope to hear from you soon!  
– The Night_

_P.S. There is one other thing, may we call you Papa? ^^_

…

"Hey, Tsu?" the rather still petit brunet looked over to his big brother. Hide was noticeably bigger than him in both mass and height, being more active and eating more than Tsuna. The younger twin tilted his head at his brother, unsure to why his brother had such a conflicted look in his eyes.

It was their tenth birthday and Hide's party that was full of the eldest twin's favorite foods and group of friends. Yet for some reason the older twin had marched up to his little brother's room in the middle of the party with a frown set in his eyes. It wasn't like it was the first time Tsuna didn't join the party, being with kids his age or groups of people in general, wasn't quite in his comfort zone.

"A-are you, sure you're not having any problems?" the taller brunet's brows dipped, "Like you know if you're being bullied just… just tell me okay?"

Tsuna blinked, startled and touched by his brother, his lips curled into a warm smile and shook his head lightly.

"It's alright, Ni-san," he keep his voice at a polite tone, "You're just worrying too much."

"Tsuna," Hide's brows knit together, the eldest looked quite dubious and gave a stern look to his brother, "Don't feel like you can't tell me okay? I'm your brother and I won't let anyone hurt you, so tell me if something happens, alright?"

"Mm," Tsuna was again taken by surprise by how serious Hide was. Nevertheless it was still an endearing sight, "Grazie, Ni-san, but you should hurry and head back down. It'll be rude to keep your friends waiting."

Tsuna softly pushed his brother back down the stairs, not letting the other brunet protest. The youngest twin closed his door with a light click, a warm smile still present on his lips. He really had a wonderful family here in Namimori, his mother sweet and kind as always and his brother was popular as ever in sports and with friends, well as close of friends his brother had right now. Really it was such a shame Vongola would be coming some day to take one of the twins as the Decimo, the next heir.

"_Ah,"_ the child inwardly sighed, he rubbed his eyes feeling tired again. Perhaps he should cut back on staying up so late, it wouldn't be good if he collapsed later. _"I feel bad for Nonno and Ni-san, for them both to get short ends of the stick…"_

It had been about a week ago, Tsuna decided to drop some of his Night activities and put more effort into being invisible. He had perfected his disappearing act long ago (it was even better once he got the handle of 'hiding one's presence') and learned to become near-impossible to read with his quiet tone and soft smile, perfecting his polite and meek character. He found it was always the humble ones who were easier to overlook.

"_Though Night might have to disappear for a while when they pick the heir…"_ the boy flopped onto his bed, bouncing on the mattress while thinking, _"I don't think I could be Night if someone from the Vongola does come…"_

This all began when Tsuna had come across the 'Cradle' Affair online, not that there was much to look at (even Timeoto was tight lipped about the subject), the only things he knew were the incident happened just a year after he had created 'Night' and something big happened and something that wasn't good. As the brunet found afterwards Vongola was out of heirs, which meant _all_ of his Nonno's sons were dead. Tsuna felt his heart cringe just thinking about how hard it much have been for the man when he found out all of his sons were deceased, it was heavier and more difficult than Tsuna could imagine for sure but that didn't change the fact he and Hidetada were still technically valid heirs for the Vongola right now.

And not to be cruel to Hide, but Tsuna did _not_ want to be a mafia boss, _nuh-uh_, no thank you. He was perfectly fine with being involved to some extent with hacking and causing some mischief here and there, but that was online only. That was all his Night persona doing that and Tsuna, after years of staying invisible rather stay that way.

Tsuna likes being invisible and he could do without having to be surrounded by a group of subordinates that waited for orders. He could _not_ stand having that many eyes looking at him. Of course, that didn't mean Tsuna was afraid of people! He wasn't terrified by being surrounded by people at all angles, he wasn't scared about the fact people would always look for him to speak with authority and loudly or the fact he would have people that both love and hate his guts, along with people who would want him both alive and dead. It wasn't that he was afraid of people or anything that would be ludicrous! He wasn't… maybe he was just a little.

The brunet fell to his back, landing harshly on his soft blankets. Perhaps Tsuna should have thought out his disappearing act more. He could blackmail, threaten groups of people and hell, he had already done those both. But talk to more than two people, or have a _normal_ conversation with someone besides Hide, their Mamma or his Nonno? Nope, that was impossible for him.

He'd rather go swimming with sharks than stay in a crowd of people, and Tsuna couldn't even swim. That was how much the brunet hated crowds, odd; he could have sworn he heard a phrase similar to that. Ah, it was probably nothing important.

Oh, how wrong he was.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** A very late update 'cause my computer went in to be fixed (dude reformated everything, thank god I grabbed everything in time). But merci for taking the time to read this!  
To kinda make up the late update, this is a little longer chapter. We're wrapping lil'Tuna's childhood. I'm sure many people saw this coming.

"Speaking", _"Thinking"_, _Mail_

**Secret 03**

Hibari Kyoya was not one for crowds, he hated them. Crowding was only filled with the loud and nosy, it was meant for the weak, for _herbivores_ and Kyoya was not any of that. He hated to be held down by something, detested being pestered about useless things and loathed being weak. Even if he was only twelve-years old, the skylark would not stand for being seen as a harmless child, he could easily beat down a full-grown adult with a few smacks of his tonfas and he could easily scare away the weaker herbivores with a glance.

He was a carnivore after all, strong and independent and a lone wolf since birth.

And as carnivore, the boy did not bat an eye when he was pulled into an alley by the local Yakuza who had a bone to pick with him. He did not tremble in fear when they were armed and outnumbered him and he did not worry when he was surrounded from all side. A Hibari does not worry and worry certainly did not exist in the child's head. The only things he did know were of the thrills in a 'hunt' and…

"I'll bite you to death."

Certainly Kyoya was outnumbered and seemed overpowered but the boy quickly changed that, taking out many of the pathetic adults that surrounded him. He felt a thrill with every strike of steel smashing with someone's flesh and bones. It was satisfying to the skylark to hear their groans and watered down some of his irritation of being dragged into such a narrow and crowded alleyway. Not that it was by much, as he was irritated by practically everything. However there was one thing that irritated Hibari Kyoya more than crowding, being interrupted when he was 'hunting' or dare the boy think it, saved like a weak herbivore.

"Excuse me," a voice called out, somehow managing to be meek and firm at the same time while being heard over the moans of pain and clangs of metal meeting metal or bones. "But you're disrupting my reading time, _again_."

The men briefly paused in their movements, a stupid move in Kyoya's eyes, as he knocked out another man. The boy did spare a glance to where the voice came from, arching a brow to the figure he saw. A small child stood at the end of the alley, wearing a oversized black hoodie that went past the boy's (or was it girl? Kyoya couldn't tell) knees and covered up his hands. The hood of the sweater was pulled up so it covered the child's head and shadowed half of his face. Their eyes didn't meet but Kyoya swore that the child's eyes were _glowing_.

He could almost feel a shudder go down his spine, when he saw those eyes narrow despite them not looking at him.

"I'm sure you all remember last week, what happened when we went against the little boy and his reading time, qui?" the strange child smiled sweetly, almost _too_ sweetly. "Now, we're all gentlemen at heart, so let's settle things _peacefully_. We wouldn't want another accident."

Venom was laced carefully in the boy's polite tone making everyone besides the skylark go rigid and Kyoya wondered if he was looking at a prime example of a wolf in a sheep's skin. He certainly wasn't looking at a herbivore for sure.

"Now, _scram_." the boy changed his soft tone harsh, a snarling. There were many grunts and growls from the men that littered in the alley, many of them Kyoya could see were ready to leap at the boy. Yet the boy seemed unnervingly calm, as though he knew what all of them were doing. He felt a chill when the boy laughed loudly, "Of course I have no problems arranging a few life-sentences or being sold in the black market in some way…or form. I'm sure they're always looking for _donators_."

The men scattered, rushing past the small boy and not a single hand dared touch the boy.

"Jeez," the boy huffed grumbling under his breath, "You would think they would learn after the first time… A-ah, I didn't know someone else was here…"

The child peeked up his face towards Kyoya, making a sheepish smile at him and leaving no trace of the carnivore Kyoya caught scent of moments ago. The boy laughed awkwardly as he scratched the back his hood with one hand while slightly pulling it down further to cover his face. Acting far too normal for someone that just _threatened_ yakuza and going off from what Kyoya heard. It wasn't the first time either. Now normally, Kyoya would not care about who interrupts his fights. As he would immediately bite them also to death but something about this herbivore-looking boy was different and made the skylark especially interested in just who this child was. So, twelve-year old Hibari Kyoya did what first came to his curious mind.

Lunge at the boy.

The boy yelped in a surprised pain, letting Kyoya pin the smaller boy down and pull off the black hood. Immediately he recognized the child's face as one of the Sawada twins, he took a moment before naming the boy beneath him as the younger twin, Sawada Tsunayoshi, the scrawnier of the two and who still held baby-fat on the child's cheeks. The boy's hair was spiked and ruffled further from the scuffle, making it look like a mix of a bird's nest and feathers. He was a boy that Kyoya didn't particularly paid any mind to, seeing as he did not crowd or make trouble. Sawada Tsunayoshi was someone who, Kyoya probably wouldn't have even known existed, if he hadn't memorized Namimori's students of all years.

He narrowed his steel-colored eyes, staring at the other's caramel ones, searching for signs of fear or struggle, for something weak and herbivorous. The boy however, stayed calm albeit looking conflicted with something but held no anxiety. He even tried to coax the boy up by pressing a cold tonfa under the child's chin but still, Kyoya saw nothing. He let a small smirk grow on his lips, intrigued even more by the small brunet and held his tonfa tightly under the boy's chin with his gaze still locked on the boy's face. He waited for some kind of response, anything that he could lash out on.

The brunet finally made some kind of response, not one that Kyoya expected though; it was a small disgruntled sound through his nose with his face still straight despite Kyoya sitting on top of him and practically crushing his stomach. His expression quickly scrunched up and the boy made a small hiss, mixed with frustration and defeat. Kyoya nearly missed the words the brunet hissed through his teeth.

"…Beh, merda."

The whisper of a foreign language (he assumed anyway) surprised Kyoya. Unlike the older twin, there was little said about the brunet under him and all reports about the boy were small, nothing note-worthy and from what little Kyoya did skim regarding was that the younger twin had been the brunet having excellent grades in his first year of school but suddenly dropping to just barely passing ones. Which made no sense as for how a struggling student to speak another language.

But then again, neither was nonchalantly blackmailing fully grown adults in yakuza or in the middle of being bitten to death because they were '_disrupting his reading time_'.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi," it was intriguing and a first for Kyoya, the boy pressed his tonfa harder against the boy's soft chin, "What do you think you're doing."

It was more of a command than a question for the boy. He kept a cold glare and pressed the metal tonfa firmly under the brunet's chin, his way of telling the boy underneath him that if he tried to lie he wouldn't be getting out unharmed and running was out of the question. The brunet visibly paled; surprisingly he had understood Kyoya's silent order and nibbled a little on his bottom lip before opening his mouth to speak.

"Um," Tsuna made a twisted and nervous smile to him, "Blackmailing Yakuza…?"

Kyoya narrowed his eyes further, unamused by the boy's answer. He made a quick flick and smacked the boy's face; he made a small huff hiding his laughter of seeing the boy's glare or at least his attempt at a glare. That moment was quickly short lived when he felt something strange in the air and suddenly Kyoya found himself twisting around and falling onto the pavement, now looking at Tsuna on top of him, holding some kind of glowing light that danced in his hand.

Kyoya couldn't help but be taken by surprised when he saw that truly the boy's eyes were glowing only this time instead of a vivid glow they were pale like the lilacs his mother loved and that the boy's expression was one similar to a desperate animal's, an animal that was hiding something.

The light that swirled oddly made Kyoya feel dizzy but he quickly shook the feeling off and easily pushed the small brunet off and roughly pulled him down to the ground. Hearing his back and head smack into the cement. Tsuna made a gruff sound and a bitter face, saying a million things that Kyoya didn't catch. He did understand one thing though, whatever the brunet tried failed miserably and through the boy's eyes that he was furious. Kyoya despite himself, jumped back when the brunet suddenly let out an uncharacteristic groan. Or rather he should call a scream with how loud the boy was.

"Sapevoche avrei dovuto avere solo cazzo siamo stati a casa oggi, avrei semplicemente lasciato solo combattimento, dannazione!" the boy's words flew right past Kyoya's head and he continued with his palms stuck to his face that was red with anger, "Argh, e qui ho fatto un passo dentro e invece di un 'grazie' vengo attaccato. Ho già abbastanza problemi da affrontare grazie a baseball idiota!"

The boy continued his ranting; at least that's what Kyoya could assume making sense of some words as some kind of foreign cursing thanks to his father. It was amusing to say at least, seeing the brunet panting for air after his fit and actually glaring daggers at Kyoya. It was very different from what little he did know about Tsuna. It made it all the more interesting for Kyoya.

"…_I just dug my own grave, didn't I_?" this time Kyoya could make sense of the boy's words that were now switched to English and snorted with an amused glint in his eyes. "…You know English don't you."

He made a small shrug with his shoulders while keeping his eyes trained on the boy, not planning to let the brunet go anytime soon.

This was how the two started a beautiful friendship.

…

That is, a violent and dangerous friendship.

At least that's what thirteen-year old Tetsuya couldn't help but think when he saw how the two interacted with each other at the Hibari residence.

He stepped in one of many guest rooms in the large home of the Hibaris', it was now reduced to being an eleven-year old's mess of tools for cleaning, maintenance, tampering and hacking. A collection of toolboxes and wires were sprawled on the floor and the single low table in the room was buried underneath papers that had strange scribbles (apparently diagrams of things Tsuna wanted to try making some day but Tetsuya for the life of him could not understand any of it) and notes on it. The only part of the table that he could see was the short legs and the area in front of the low-humming laptop.

Tetsuya still had a difficult time believing this was the work of a child's, of Sawada _Tsunayoshi's_. The same Tsunayoshi that he had seen briefly in school when looking for Kyoya, who would shy away when he gave him a glance in public or seemed to shrink the longer you looked at him. The same person, who had a timid and meek face that spoke with a polite tone, was the same person that would be head to head in an argument with Kyoya or even fighting with the skylark.

Which was what they happened to be doing now, hearing a loud crash resound even in the messy room. He let a small sigh escape him and wondered how the two, not even being teens, could cause such a ruckus.

It was a bigger question how the two in question even managed to befriend each other in the first place, not _exactly_ being the types to spend time together. Particularly how their interests collided to extreme ends, Kyoya with his (albeit chaotic) order and tyrant-like antics to Tsuna's mischievous and rather sly (almost too sly that Tetsuya again, forgets this is a child three years younger than him) and slightly-rebellious ones.

He guessed it had something to do with how the both of them did in fact dislike crowds (though it was more a case of intolerance for Kyoya's case and more a discomfort for Tsuna in Tetsuya's opinion) and had one common trait that seemed to out rule their clashing personalities; doing and learning whatever they found interesting.

The raven had to take a moment considering whether he should really get what Tsuna asked him to get, the reason why he even went into this hazardous room, or even come back at all hearing another loud crash.

He let out a long heavy sigh through his nose, and breathed in a deep breath. He needed to prepare for the inevitable. The teen looked around the room, taking note to not rummage through too many things and felt relieved to know and see the item that Tsuna requested for. Tetsuya somberly remembered how straight the brunet's expression (minus the few odd 'HIIIE's and sweat) was despite being chased around the dojo by Kyoya for the umpteenth time since he began living with the Hibaris that year.

The boy shook his head in dismay, quickly scooping up two metal tonfas in the room and made his way back to where all the crashing came from. He reluctantly entered the room and found himself assaulted in the face by something that vaguely resembled a slipper (he swore it was one of the fluffy bunny ones). At least he thought it hit him, as the moment his eyes winced the object suddenly dispersed and vanish into some misty light.

Tetsuya nearly dropped the tonfas in his arms from fright and confusion, but managed to pick himself back up before he did something he knew he would probably be better off not doing.

"Gah, desolé Tetsu-san!" a small brunet ran up towards him, huffing and his face soaking with sweat and cheeks flushed that it looked like all the blood in the brunet's body went to his head. "Didn't mean to hit you, luckily I'm not good with the whole 'real illusions' thing..."

Tsuna made a rather choked laugh looking genuinely apologetic for it, so the raven just gave his a quick nod. Ignoring the small disappointment he could see in the brunet's face and his confusion about the 'real illusion' bit. It was better not to ask after knowing Tsuna for a few months.

"It's fine Tsunayoshi-san, and I got what you asked for… Is something the matter?"

The teen looked at the brunet questionably when he made a scowl at him. Inwardly Tetsuya couldn't help but feel exhausted; dealing with two enigmas was quite difficult, especially when they were both prone to cause trouble (intentional or not). Tsuna's scowl quickly changed into a childish pout, confusing Tetsuya further. What did he do to upset the boy?

"Tetsu-san, at least just call me 'Tsuna-san', Tsunayoshi is a mouthful even without 'san'."

The raven almost let out a sigh, typical of Tsuna to make a fuss over something so simple as name.

The brunet slipped out one of the tonfas out from Tetsuya's arms, he had to hold back a small chuckle to how the boy was obviously struggling with holding the metal weapon. The boy gave it a quick look and a satisfied nod to himself, before giving Tetsuya another nod that was saying thanks. It was here that the raven finally had enough nerve to speak up and ask the question that was nagging at the back of his mind for a while.

"…May I ask what exactly you did?"

"Huh? Oh, it's nothing much," Tsuna chuckled in a friendly manner, his wide caramel-eyes narrowing from his cheery smile. "I just made it like a chigiriki."

Tetsuya stared at the brunet with a dumbfounded look, making the other laugh more. It was here Kyoya joined in, giving Tsuna a dubious look. He guessed whatever the boy did was, unsurprisingly, odd to do. Tsuna made a loud huff and rolled his wide caramel eyes at Kyoya, giving the both of them another pout.

"I just wanted to see how chains would work on tonfas and admit it; it would be cool to have more range while fighting!" the brunet flailed his arms in the air as if to make it seem like he wasn't in wrong, "And they would be a good way to test out Cloud attributes…"

It was really times like these; Tetsuya really could believe Tsuna was indeed a child, with the wave he pouted and flailed his arms about. It would be rather endearing for a child like Tsuna who still looked younger than he actually was, endearing if not for the fact he was talking about fighting techniques anyway. Or talking to Kyoya, already feared in both Namimori Middle and High school divisions despite still being in Elementary with such an attitude.

Tetsuya felt himself deflate a little, seeing Kyoya's eyes glint. How the two children would grow up in the future was a fearsome thought and if both were still good friends (best friends really), the thought made Tetsuya tremble a bit before shoving the idea back down. He feared for the idea of them working together or even, if Tetsuya dare think it, joining the Mafia world that both the Hibaris and Tsuna's family had connections with, be it indirectly or not. Either way, Tetsuya somehow knew that they were both, together or alone, were someone people did _not_ want to mess with.

Not unless they had a death wish.

…

"Cazzo!"

"Sawada Tsunayoshi, cursing is against regulations. Do not make me bite you to death."

"Kyo, _please_, regulations said nothing about Italian or cursing at all, you're just looking for a reason to bite me." Tsuna groaned flopping onto his stomach on the soft cushions of the sofa, "And I have a valid reason for swearing, I swear… No pun intended."

Tsuna could practically feel how the now-Perfect grunted and almost rolled his eyes, he propped himself up with his elbows with his chin resting in his palm to take a good look at Kyoya's face. He himself gave the skylark a bored but disgruntled face, twisting with some of the annoyance and slight excitement for the future to come.

"The heir is, unsurprisingly, Ni-san but it seems they're sending a tutor coming…" the brunet made a slight growl, "In hindsight, I should have probably seen this coming seeing as Iemitsu's an idiot father who thinks keeping secrets would actually protect his family."

"…And?"

"And?! And the bane of my existence," Tsuna wailed out a groan, smacking his palms on his face in dismay. "From what HQ's database has, they're sending _the_ Reborn, strongest hitman in- Hibari Kyoya if you do not get rid of that bloodlust in your eyes I will personally show you to hell."

The skylark clucked his tongue in distaste and disappointment, narrowing his eyes slightly and giving a defiant huff.

"No really, don't do or try anything. He isn't the world's strongest hitman for nothing Kyo." Tsuna pouted, "And do keep a lid on your flames like I will with mine… And if you really, really want to fight him don't bother going to him, I'm quite sure that the 'demon perfect of Nami-chuu' will catch his eye. He might even assess you for one of Ni-san's guardians."

"I do not work for others."

"I know, too well actually, you're not the type who works under or with people…" Tsuna snorted, "I'm surprised you even made the Disciplinary Committee. I thought you hated crowds of people more than me? Let alone a group of followers."

The perfect clicked his tongue with irritation.

"Ah," Tsuna grinned with his eyes laughing for him, "I feel like you attracted a group of masochistic lackeys too, either that or I'd say that they have some kind of huge attraction to Tetsu… Oh I should tell him that, the look on his face will be priceless!"

"Sawada Tsunayoshi, Kusakabe does not need your harassment and student harassment is against the regulations."

This time Tsuna laughed loudly, giving into a fit of bubbly giggles and snorts. "Kyo-_channn_, I'm technically not in middle school yet. So screw your regulations."

"Then Sawada Tsunyoshi, you are trespassing school property and should be bitten to death."

"Yes, yes and just how many times have I told you to stop calling me my full name? Just hearing you say it all the time is exhausting," Tsuna ran his fingers through his brown hair, heaving out a sigh but still had a smirk on his lips, "And how long are you going to call Tetsu so unfamiliarly? At least call him Tetsuya."

"You are too friendly."

"You're just too shy."

A glare answered the brunet back, making the boy giggle with a devilish grin on his face. The two had long grown comfortable with each other's presence over the years and still managed to keep their friendship under the bridge. No one, besides Tetsuya of course, knew about the brunet's relationship, even the gathered Disciplinary Committee knew nothing. For outsiders, Tsuna was basically nonexistent and for the committee members that did see him, they only saw the retreating back of someone clad in all black.

"Ah, that reminds me." Tsuna rummaged through the bag that he had left on the ground near his feet, he pulled out a lengthy black wig and tossed the thing at Kyoya. "This is the best wig I could find that looks natural, keep it hidden here for me would you?"

The teen glared hard at Tsuna as he caught the thrown object with the butt-end of a tonfa, he clicked his tongue once again but this time to ask for a reason from the boy.

"I'll need something to look different when I come to work in here during school days," Tsuna snorted and pulled up his the hood of his sweater, "And I gave black-color contacts to you last time right? Keep those in here too with that and a spare uniform and where I can _actually_ find them, okay? And do thank Suzume-san for letting me stash my things at your home again."

Kyoya gave a grunt as holding the wig up in mild disgust, "It's long because…?"

"Kyo, if you can find a man who inherited all his mother's genes and no I do not mean you and Suzume-san with the whole 'crowding is for herbivores things' that's personality and influencing you since birth being your mother, and has a voice like mine, ask me again." The brunet deadpanned with a quick roll of his eyes, "And that wig was probably the strongest thing I could find, you know how my hair is."

The skylark hmph'd in response and Tsuna heard a drawer promptly open and close.

"Grazie, anyway Reborn should be coming here later in the year, probably around when Hide and I start school just go along with the plan and hide the fact that we know each other, the mafia and the flames, alright? Since those flames basically scream 'mafia' to the higher ranks," Tsuna got to his feet moving to the door of the Reception Room, he flashed a wide smile to his good friend. "And if we do manage to pull this if off, I promise that things will get interesting."

"You know this how?"

"I have my ways- HIIE!" the brunet screeched, ducking before a chain smacked his across the face. He gave a red pout and glare at Kyoya, "Kyo, stop abusing my upgrades!"

"Hn."

"Almost four years and you're still a jerk. Anyway s'il vous plaît pardonnez-moi mais, I have to get ready for my date with a devil." The brunet kept his pout up but moved to open the door as he tugged his hood on. Only to pause with one foot out the room and looked back at Kyoya. He withheld his urge to stick his tongue at the perfect and instead put up a meek smile, hiding the sinister cheer in his caramel eyes. His voice became a passive tone, nothing like his usual snarky one. "And by devil, I of course do not mean you, Hibari_-senpai_."

Tsuna quickly ran out to the corridors, running before the perfect could try throwing something at him or even throw _him_ out the third floor window. Ah, Tsuna's interesting days were far from over. In fact his days would be even more exciting, especially with hiding secrets from the rumored Reborn, world's strongest hitman.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** And here we go, starting with the Daily Life Arc, merci to those still with me!

_Warning long author note here, you can skip the rest and just continue to the story if you don't want to read it ^^_

If anyone is curious about Tsuna's flames, yes he does have three flames: Sky Flames for obvious reasons while Mist and Cloud Flames are the physical representations of his façade and desire to freely do as he wishes and not be bothered by the people around him. My headcanon about flames types is that besides the bloodline, a constant or very strong mindset at young age, heavily influences your flames and makes certain waves more active than others (seeing as resolve/emotions do actually effect flames).  
A good example would be Gokudera, due to his rough childhood he had many mixed feelings and thoughts which brings up resulting in Rain (desire for peace of sorts), Lightning (to protect himself like hardening his heart or maybe even be heard/seen), Sun (to be happy or heal himself or maybe even bring back his mother), Cloud (to be free but somewhere that he can belong) and Storm which would be inherited.  
Though flames that are inherited in blood are stronger flames by default (shown in canon, stating that Gokudera's Storm flames were his strongest ones), they can also be strengthened by this process too in my opinion. Explaining how Hibari's flames are so strong as he hates crowd/being held down by someone else and is his blood has Cloud Flames as the 'main' vein so it would stronger than normal flames, which would explain how TYL-Hibari manages to break so many dang rings in the Future Arc! C: That's how I make sense of it anyway. This will pop up again in the _veeery_ distant future in the story, ahem. ^^

And for those of you curious about the arcs!

I'm going to have just Varia (Daily life + Kokuyo), Future and Curse of the Arcobaleno Arcs. At first I wanted to have the Simons/Inheiritance Arc in too but thought against it, having ups and downs about the Arc and though I don't have anything really against the Arc, I have absolutely no idea how I could twist the plot around without Tsuna's or Hide's roles and character dampening in some way. So, I ended up taking just the entire arc out and having the Curse Arc start up after the Future Arc. Of course this means, I'm taking a lot out but don't worry, you'll see what I have in mind!

"Speaking", _"Thinking"_, _Mail_

**Secret 04**

"We're off Ka-san!" a young but tall brunet that had light highlights in his short hair called out with a grin, he walked out briskly full with energy. "See you later!"

"Ah, Ni-san… um," another brunet, shorter and hair lacking the first brunet's highlights and short-length followed. He turned his head back and nodded back to the door where Sawada Nana stood with a bright smile, "We're off Ka-san."

"You two have fun!" the woman cooed with still a bright smile and made a bubbly laugh, "And Hi-kun, Tsu-kun be sure to come home after classes are over alright? I have a surprise for the two you!"

The brunets looked to each other warily but gave their mother a quick nod. They ran off, or rather the first brunet did while the smaller brunet walked leisurely to school. Soon the first brunet ran back to the other brunet, giving him a pout where the second brunet made a small smile. The two of them, this time walked together.

Reborn from his hiding spot looked over the Sawada twins, Sawada Hidetada and Sawada Tsunayoshi.

Twins were always difficult and complicated to deal with when being candidates for heirs, especially when the twins were the last heirs left for Vongola. The hitman was almost opted to sigh out loud; he knew well how dangerous it was to have the twins as heir candidates, knowing and witnessing a single family torn apart from a dispute within caused by the twin heirs fighting over the position. For the mafia, twins were a curse, being both a weakness and threat; the leftover twin could step up to be the heir and start a fight with the other or be used as bait to trap and assassinate the true heir. He had thought about perhaps even killing the leftover Sawada before problems arose but knew against it, killing one of them would plant an unnecessary seed of distrust and doubt. Reborn huffed with annoyance as Leon crawled down from his fedora to his hand and gave his chameleon partner a small pet.

Hidetada the older twin and Iemitsu's suggested-or-rather-demanded-to-be heir, the brunet had just above average marks but caught everyone's eye with his talent to excel in sports. Though he had the charisma and natural leadership to make a boss, there was a fatal flaw that Iemitsu and his spies overlooked.

Hide had friends, if Reborn could label them that, but didn't particular have ones he was really close to. His friends were more on acquaintance level and the way Hide interacted with his 'friends' didn't impress Reborn. The brunet was too naïve and easily fooled by the smiling fronts of his classmates, and most irksome of it all the boy was too eager to please everyone. Even if that meant he spent the night not sleeping to finish something or try a game out, or overexerting his body to point he should be in the hospital. It was a rather pathetic sight but Reborn would be sure to hammer into his new student's brain of what would make a great boss and still teach him the brutality of the mafia, both figuratively and literally of course.

Over all he wasn't too worried about his to-be student but…

Tsunayoshi the younger twin and the one who was practically nonexistent anywhere besides Iemitsu's ridiculous file that consisted of how 'Tuna-fish' (Reborn couldn't help but roll his eyes at the stupid name) was too shy and cute to hurt even a fly.

This brunet was an odd case, Reborn looked for more information for both twins he found abundant noteworthy things for Hide but for Tsuna there was little to nothing. What was there wasn't too impressive either; the boy just barely passed his classes and just managed to be on the borderline of passing and failing but at the same the boy managed to keep his overall average similar to everyone else's. He had no friends from what his files said and what he had seen but the boy managed to get by without even being confronted by a bully once. The information and observations he had done were quite conflicting in Reborn's opinion, something about the brunet felt off.

Yet he couldn't do anything more than maybe make the brunet's mark improve or shove him lightly around to jostle the brunet up, after all Iemitsu demanded that his 'adorable Tuna-fish' was left out of the mafia world with his wife. Reborn scoffed this time, letting Leon lick one of his fingers. Iemitsu was always an idiot but Reborn didn't think he was a naïve one too.

How that man became the CEDEF's Head was one of few things that Reborn though he hated to admit, couldn't understand. The blond couldn't have actually believed that he could leave one of the twins out of the situation and everything would be alright, if anything that would lead to bigger problems and importantly leave the twin left to be a _normal_ civilian defenceless.

He guessed that's where Nono's peculiar request came in but that too was something that he didn't quite understand. How could Nono expect him to not just watch Tsuna and Hide (not that that part was a problem) but that he, a hitman, could _help_ Tsuna make friends or even _become_ his friend? Reborn couldn't believe that the Vongola boss had even asked him, a _killer_, to befriend a thirteen-year old.

At least Nono didn't tell him _how_ he should help Tsuna or teach Hide.

He smirked and made his way to follow the two, the transfer student he called in should be arriving today now. After that it would be a good time to introduce himself to the Sawadas.

…

Hide yawned loudly and rubbed away the small tears welling in his eyes, still feeling a little sluggish from oversleeping. He shivered again and moved to run a hand through his hair, like he would do when he felt a chill go down his spine and looked over to his brother. Tsuna had his same blank stare, looking like he was spaced out but Hide knew better. His brother was probably thinking about something deeply but not deep enough to trip, Tsuna was a little odd like that. Not that it bothered him.

"Hey Tsu, what do you think Ka-san's surprise is?"

Tsuna blinked out of his blank face and looked with a small fidget, the brunet scratched lightly at a cheek with a finger and gave Hide a sheepish smile. Hide huffed but didn't mind his brother's answer or how he answered. It was an answer and a clear one for Hide, so it was good enough. Now the question that tugged at his mind was what their mother's surprise was when they got home. Something about the way his mother smiled with more sparkles than usual, told him that the surprise was anything but good. Hide just hoped it wouldn't be something like setting up the brothers for a strange playdate with one their mother's relatives, he shivered to the idea. He really hoped it wasn't something like that.

"Ni-san…" a small pat on his shoulder pulled Hide out of his thoughts; he looked over to Tsuna at his side. "You're worrying too much."

"Yeah, you're probably right. We'll meet at the front gates then," Hide let a grin grow on his face and beamed at Tsuna, before it grew a little grim. "I have to talk to Mochida-senpai about some of the weird equipment and those rumors."

"The one, um about them cheating?"

"Mm, that too," Hide nodded with a small frown, "But I'm worried about Mochida-senpai, you said there's been a rumor about him cheating in both sports and relationships, not to mention he hasn't been taking practice seriously as he should…"

Hide thought against mentioning that he was a little unnerved by the upperclassmen's moves on his long-time crush and childhood friend Sasagawa Kyoko. Not that that was the only reason why he going to talk to him (although he was really getting tried with warning the other to back off when Kyoko was uncomfortable), he liked kendo and its club members. Sure some of them had some ups and downs with him but he didn't hate them or dislike them, and Hide couldn't help but be worried when he saw how lazy and indifferent they were getting about the sport. Last time he went to practice he was the only one who was really trying and Hide wasn't even a regular member, he just liked tagging along because it was fun.

He let out a small sigh, might as well prepare for the worst of it.

"Alright, I'll see you later Tsuna and tell me if Nezu gets on your back for something." Hide grumbled, "That sorry excuse of teacher seriously has some problems."

"Aha, um, I'll keep that in mind, Ni-san."

Hide waved and broke out into a quick sprint, running the rest of the way to school; exercise would always clear his head. Of course he didn't notice the silver-haired teen glaring daggers at him.

…

"This is Gokudera Hayato, he's transferring from Italy."

The silveret glared at the students in the room, looking over each of their faces with a scowl. He ignored the teacher's ramblings and the annoying squeals of girls. His eyes sharpened when he found the face he was looking for, sitting almost at the very back was the brunet he assumed was the younger twin and the younger brother of Vongola's newest heir, Sawada Tsunayoshi. Hayato couldn't make out the brunet's face from it being obscured by some other raven looking ready to nod off any second but from what he could see it looked like the brunet had his shoulders hunched or was petite as the girls in the room.

He narrowed his eyes thinking how pathetic the twin was, he could only assume the older one wasn't like this.

"Ah, Gokudera you're seat's at the back corner… Behind, Yamamoto…?" the adult in the room stumbled on his words, as though he just realized something, "…No, no, I mean behind Sawada."

Hayato huffed, unimpressed by the teacher forgetting his own student but he walked his way to the back letting out his best killer intent.

He gave anyone that looked at him his sharpest glare and grunted when he passed by the sleepy raven that sat in front of Tsuna. While the said brunet seemed to be in his own world and his shoulders were indeed hunched forward with his back slouched, making him look small. Small and pathetic in Hayato's eyes, he glared even harder at the boy yet the brunet didn't even flinch, probably being too dense to even notice it. The silveret just before he reached his seat behind the brunet took note of the brunet's notebook, seeing it scrawled with messy writing and strange scribbles.

He narrowed his eyes again; he wasn't too impressed for sure. Just what was Reborn thinking setting him into the Vongola Decimo candidate's _brother's_ class instead of the candidate's one? Then there were the hitman's orders, not to take action until he said so and make sure to keep the younger twin out of trouble while on standby.

The teen growled and sat down, pushing his seat back and kicking his feet on the table.

If he knew this would be a babysitting job, Hayato wouldn't have left Italy. Even if it was awful there, at least it was his life he was watching. The boy shut his eyes but after he glared at the teacher one last time to scare him off from trying to tell him off for anything.

Of course he didn't notice how the brunet in front of him stared at his reflection in the window, with a small frown. Or see how the brunet's face scowled slightly with his eyes almost glowing when he looked away again.

…

_To: Iron  
Subject: Bonjour!  
It's been some time since we're last chatted but alas this is to update you and our Skylark about the situation, Mamma has mentioned a 'surprise'. It's not too hard to imagine what the surprise is, qui? ^^  
Seems the day has finally come, took about a week but at least things are finally moving around. Anyway, tell Skylark that I'll be too busy to drop in and say a 'salut' for a while.  
If the bomb that transferred into my class means anything, then I'm quite sure Nono arranged things so Reborn is going to tutor both Sky and I… I'm not looking forward to that but I digress.  
Main point, do ignore any ruckus that comes up over next few days… or week, I haven't met this Reborn yet so I'm actually at a loss on what to really expect.  
Au revoir for now! ^^_

Tsuna made a small sigh, sending his mail to Tetsuya. The brunet rubbed the back of his neck and then felt at the back of his head for any holes. He swore that new transfer student drilled holes in the back of head with his eyes and was ready to strangle him when he looked at Tsuna's notes that consisted of gibberish that didn't make sense until reading it backwards. He guessed it would probably be best that he stopped looking into the flames for a while; it was even risky to begin with to write things like that at school. At least he made sure to hide them when no one was looking in the reception room.

The brunet stretched his arms up, feeling his back pop nicely after slouching for so long and waited by the school's fence for Hide to come back once he was done with his futile attempt to fix the kendo club.

Tsuna sometimes couldn't help think as the saying went, like father like son with how ridiculous Hide could get. Only Hide wasn't hiding a giant lie like being part of the mafia to his entire family, well at least not yet anyway… unless he decides to actually mention it to Tsuna or even actually tell Nana. The former idea would make sense, seeing as Hide had a strange tendency to confide in Tsuna but telling Nana that her son just somehow managed to become a mafia boss candidate out of the blue was hardly something he could imagine. He guessed Nana was the biggest reason to why Iemitsu, year after year continued that idiotic ruse of being a construction worker. Although drilling for oil in the North Pole, _and_ sending them a postcard complete with _penguins_ was pushing it.

Not that it mattered for Nana; Tsuna shook his head with dismay. His mother might be the most dangerous woman he knows, which was saying a lot seeing as Tsuna knew Kyoya's _mother_ (Hibari Suzume was still on top for being the sliest person he knew at the moment and better at blackmail than he was).

His mother was the only one he knew that could manage to marry into the mafia without knowing anything even after marriage. She was the only one wouldn't question her husband despite being gone for _years_ and sends postcards from the North Pole when working as a construction worker digging for oil while not being brought to immediate tears when said husband doesn't come home and miss their _anniversary_ of all things and can still smiles like every day was the happiest day to be alive.

He wasn't even going to start with when his mother started on a (sparkling and _flowery_) tangent about his social life or how she wanted him to find his _special_ someone.

Really his mother in retrospect was quite frightening.

Then again his opinion might change once he meets Reborn. The brunet let out another quiet sigh, still keeping away from the still leaving students' ways but he was getting a little impatient with Hide. Just what was his brother doing to take this long?

Tsuna shifted a little uneasy, beginning to feel eyes on him now and with a small huff he pocketed his orange phone and walked back to the school with some reluctance, with the chance he would run into either Kyoya (who would not be happy with him going in and out of the reception room just to stash something of his) or the transfer student who's appearance and attitude just screamed 'I'm part of the mafia so scram' and seemed to be given the mission of either protecting or watching Tsuna (he almost laughed to that). He let out an audible sigh this time and made his way to the dojo.

Reborn certainly loved toying with people even before he introduced himself.

…

Hide winced, involuntarily taking a step back and frowned, knitting his brows together. The situation didn't look too good. Here he was in the dojo, trying to ask the team what was going on in the club and somehow Hide ended up offending them doing so.

It just went downhill when one of the members challenged him into a spar and the rest of the club not letting him refuse.

"…_At least Mochida-senpai's busy with Leadership."_ The brunet bitterly thought, dodging another swing. _"Man, I'm going to get chewed out by Tsu for this... Maybe I should just stick with baseball or soccer."_

Hide spun on his heel, he oddly felt a little heavy in the armor but shrugged off the feeling. His eyes glanced around looking at his opponent for any openings before lashing out. Again, the weight of his arms felt odd and heavier than usually and his swing was easily blocked. The brunet hissed at that and quickly needed to jump back to avoid being hit.

The match hadn't gone on for too long, but Hide was feeling exhausted. It was like heavy weights were strapped onto his limbs, sure he was wearing armor but this was getting ridiculous. Hide didn't even come here to fight in the first place.

The brunet again turned, seeing the shinai just swing past his face and nearly hit him dead on in the face.

"W-Wait, senpai! I don't know enough rules but I'm pretty sure we not allowed to do that right?!" Hide inwardly panicked as the next swing came from another direction, "Yikes! S-Senpai, hey! Just because I'm a novice doesn't mean it's cool to hit from the sides! Even I know it's against the rules to… to… Shit."

Hide did his best to sprint back, jumping out of the way as best as he could as another member suddenly joined in to fight him. The brunet tossed his shinai at the joining opponent, it was probably stupid of him but right now everything about the match was in his opinion. The person who was hit by the bamboo sword grunted, tumbling backwards and falling on their back with a thud, confusing Hide as he didn't throw the weapon _that_ hard. He shrugged the thought away focusing on removing his armor as he ran, chucking at the members that were now for certain breaking the rules and just ganging up on him.

He couldn't help feel a little bitter at them for doing this; it did lessen his guilt about chucking his armor at them a little though.

Once his helm was off, Hide did what he did best, kicked it. He winced a little at the impact, feeling the hard material knock with his foot painfully. Hide spun around and ran into a full sprint, not wasting time to get out of the dojo, looks like he wouldn't be helping or taking part of practice for a while. The brunet nearly smashed straight into someone when he turned on the corner, at least he would have if he and the other to skid to a halt at the same time. Hide laughed sheepishly and awkwardly, not exactly out of breath from running but too many things happening at once. Oddly he could smell something like smoke in the air.

"A-ah, sorry 'bout that… uh," he looked at the unfamiliar face which was set into a scowl, Hide didn't know who the silveret was which was odd as he seen practically everyone around school running around so much. "…I guess you must be new, huh? I'm Hide and it would be chill to talk but I really gotta go, later!"

The brunet passed the silveret, at least that's what he had in mind until he felt a hand tug his collar back and choke him practically. Hide gagged slightly, jolting backwards and gave the still scowling (or was he glaring?) silveret a confused stare. Immediately the brunet regretted looking at him again, as Hide could swear the other's sea-green eyes were trying to gorge out his face with a definite glare.

The silveret clicked his tongue, grinding his teeth together and with the hand that wasn't holding Hide back put up a lit cigarette to his lips. Hide blinked dumbly, he guessed that's where the smoke smell came from.

"You're pathetic," the boy snarled and Hide involuntarily winced, "And unfit to be the Vongola Decimo!"

Again, Hide blinked dumbly with his mouth parted in a little confused 'o' shape. He wasn't too keen about being insulted by a stranger out of the blue, especially when he was running and had his twin brother still waiting by the gate, Tsuna was probably looking for him now (knowing him, Tsuna probably got uncomfortable standing around when everyone else was walking past him). Speaking of which, the silveret's last words vaguely resembled some words he heard Tsuna spout out when they were little. What they meant though, was something Hide wasn't sure about.

"Uh… the gongoal what?"

The silveret's face flared into a deeper scowl, Hide felt maybe he should have kept his mouth shut.

"You bastard!" the silveret with still the cigarette in mouth spat out with venom, he lifted Hide up with both his hands pulling him up by the front of his collar, "Mocking the Vongola Family- I'll kill you!"

"H-Hey, man, uh," Hide sweated, worried about how serious the other seemed when he said that, "I really don't know what's biting you but chill, I seriously don't know how what the heck you're talking about?!"

The silveret didn't seem to take in Hide's words as the boy threw Hide back, making him fall back on the ground. Hide winced and when he looked up, to his horror he saw the silveret holding strange sticks with fuses, lit fuses that were sizzling loudly while he held them in between his fingers. Something about this situation told him that the silveret wasn't holding fireworks.

"You're a nuisance, so die!"

This day couldn't get worse.

"There he is!"

He was wrong, it could.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** Decided to post this too (it's a little early but eh).

I had a few people come in differently or a little later than usual, ha ha. Merci beaucoup for reading and desolé to anyone who likes the Daily Life Arc, I'm gonna skip a lot of it (mostly parts that I have no idea how to fit in here with the twins) but I hope you're enjoying reading this so far! C:

"Speaking", _"Thinking"_, _Mail_

**Secret 05**

Reborn cursed when he saw Gokudera Hayato move and attack Hide after he told him not to.

He would have to deal with the bomber later for disobeying his orders but at least the hitman would be able to see how well Hide could handle himself without the dying will bullet first, before he begun tutoring the boy.

Honestly he was rather surprised at how strong Hide was, well strong for a civilian anyway. The boy had some good points about how he went about the brawl, keeping his eye open at all times and watching for both hits and openings while on his toes which was a good sign the boy's hyper intuition working to some extent. Then there was the creative use of fighting without a weapon against someone who did, definitely a good point for a boss. However, the boy had more bad points than good ones that showed how much Reborn needed to work on the brunet.

His sense of balance wasn't horrible but wasn't good enough either and though he had the muscle and stamina, it would be wasted on unnecessary movements.

Looking at the way he fought, Hide didn't seem have any ideas or plans while he was fighting either, he just dodged and threw a blow in when as soon as he saw an opening. Even prior to the fight with the bomber, the way Hide didn't notice the rigged armor and shinai while in a spar was horrendous to watch (admittedly the boy didn't seem to lag too much from the weight, meaning he had better strength than initially thought) and Hide even now still held back, despite being in a complete panic. Even taking the time to kick the thrown sticks of dynamite high into the air, letting them explode away from everyone but put himself in danger.

Though it was good to know Hide was worried about others besides himself, Reborn felt slightly appalled by the brunet's actions. Self-control was one thing but blind mercy when clearly at a disadvantage and in danger was something Reborn would need to lecture the brunet on, along with numerous other things.

"GAH-!"

Quickly the few kendo members began to thin out, running away as Hayato threw out more dynamite. Reborn if he was someone else would have shaken his head with a sigh of disapproval to how the bomber acted, not that he did after all he is Reborn. He would work with what he has and make it the best.

"H-HEY KNOCK IT OFF, WHAT IF SOMEONE GETS HURT?!" the brunet screamed, Reborn held the urge to roll his eyes that was the point of why Hayato was attacking. "D-Dude would you just chill-! HEY KNOCK IT OFF SERIOUSLY!"

The boy kicked the incoming bombs again and stepped on the fuses of the ones he missed hurling into the sky, it would only be time until the boy ended up twisting something in his body with his reckless movements. Reborn supposed he should stop this nonsense, he raised a hand gesture for Leon to climb down from his fedora and let his partner transform into a simple hand pistol.

"Hmph," he smirked, taking aim and readying to fire when Hide turns again when deflecting another attack, "Consider this special service, baka-Hide."

…

Tsuna had a lot of questions for his brother when he finally found him after sidestepping away from the eyes of a panicking kendo club, seeing explosions and clouds of smoke in the sky, then finding his brother in nothing but his boxers and _with_ the transfer student.

"I was mistaken! You're the one fit to be boss!" he quite perplexed by how the silveret was sparkling at Hide, "Tenth! I'll follow you to ends of the Earth! Your wish is my command!"

Tsuna might have been more than just perplexed by the sudden mood change of the silveret.

"My life is your hands, Tenth!"

The brunet hoped that Mafiosos aren't this weird or that he was just stepping by at the wrong moment at the wrong time. Or maybe that Gokudera Hayato wasn't a morning person or that he just disliked the idea of being in Tsuna's class instead of Hide's… What was he kidding? The mafia had flames that come from someone's dying will; practically magic to a normal (and sane) person, that itself was weird enough. In fact he wouldn't be surprised if baby hitman showed up or robot assassins.

Tsuna made a small cough getting the two boys' attentions.

"O-Oh, T-Tsu, sorry 'bout that," Hide choked up a smile his face burning red, "Got hell of a story to tell you, actually…"

The brunet made a questionable sound when Hide seemed to hush the silveret who erupted into that scowl he saw in the morning. He figured Smokin' Bomb Hayato just didn't like him, then again he had seen some of the few rumor circulating around the silveret, and there weren't many good things either. Tsuna hid his amusement at how the hot-tempered bomber was acting like some love-struck puppy behind a small smile, looking between him and Hide.

"Are you and Gokudera-san friends now…" his smile dropped, turning into a sour scowl when he actually looked at Hide more closely now. "…Ni-san, _what_ did you do?"

Tsuna made a hiss, looking at the gross bruising on his brother's left ankle and he moved closer to see his brother but Hayato stood in the way.

"You shitty clone," Hayato snarled and both Tsuna and Hide choked at the insult. "Don't come near the Tenth!"

"D-Dude what the hell is your problem?!" Hide screeched, jumping away from the silveret and over to Tsuna. "First you call me pathetic and try killing me with those not-firework things! Then you're going on about this 'Tenth' stuff! Now you're calling my twin brother a shitty clone?!"

Tsuna twitched feeling himself sweat a little, he was beginning to understand what happened. Hide most likely was duped into an unfair spar, ran, bumped into Hayato and the bomber lived up to his name, 'blowing' up on Hide. Seeing how clueless Hide was too, must have meant that Hayato wasn't suppose to confront the Decimo-to-be. Most likely the bomber was suppose to act after Reborn arrived and explained everything, it was a little unnerving to see how a plan could be flawed or ruined just from a key player having a short-temper.

He made a mental note to be sure to keep that fact in mind in the future, just in case.

Recklessness was a dangerous trait that he knew too well thanks to how monstrous Kyoya could get when he was angry.

"Now, now," Tsuna smiled with a strain, "Ni-san, I'm not sure what happened to your clothes but you better change into your gym clothes. We did tell Ka-san we could be home after school."

Hide's face paled, he shouted something incomprehensible and rushed off. Leaving Tsuna and Hayato by themselves, it was quite a heavy and awkward atmosphere. The brunet glanced to the still seething silveret and almost snickered out loud at his behavior.

"_More an attached kitten if I think about it."_ The boy mused, _"…A very moody one."_

Still the other boy wasn't exactly starting on good terms with Tsuna, with the glaring and 'shitty clone'.

"Um, it's nice to meet you Gokudera-san, I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi." He might as well try with the nice route, "I hope we may get along."

"Che, I have nothing to say to you copy."

Tsuna stayed silent, opting to smile sweetly at the silveret. In the back of the brunet's mind, he wondered if he could get away with strangling Hayato at least once (or at least _politely_ shove some sense into him) before Reborn introduced himself.

…

Nana wasn't much of a happy woman as people thought. She had her worries, her problems, and her fears, even she had her moments of weakness where she would just want to cry on the floor and break apart there. She wasn't the perfect wife; she was just like any normal human being with her flaws and all.

That was probably why she focused on her children so much rather than focusing on the fact they were missing a husband and father at home or forget about the numerous amounts of times she questioned his absence. While doting on their children did help her feel somewhat better, even that had limits, especially when they themselves were becoming problems. Yes, they were sweet and loving boys that Nana couldn't imagine her life without but yes they were just as frustrating as her husband.

She groaned to the saying 'like father like son' now, Nana thought it was _cute_ and _endearing_ but oh, how wrong she was.

The brunette guessed it took five missed anniversaries and birthdays for her to take the hint that her husband wasn't the perfect person she thought he was. Thinking back maybe her little Tsuna didn't enjoy her cooing for that reason, seeing as her youngest needed to be reminded (and persuaded at one point) that Iemitsu _was_ the father.

She tried not to fret about the fact it was only a year later and _after_ her four-year-old son taught _himself_ another language that his grades plummeted and the brunet shied away from people. The fact Nana heard nothing about friends only made her stomach twist with worry. Even Hide seemed to be having troubles with getting friends, Nana's lost count of the numerous amounts of times she's heard Hide go 'oh they didn't mean anything by it' or 'it's just a joke, nothing to worry about' when something like a new bruise popped out of nowhere.

Nana swallowed down a bitter lump in her throat, trying to not have the gall to just dial up her husband and tell Iemitsu to get his ass back to the house now, 'cause she's married for a _fucking reason_. She almost lost herself when Iemitsu had called, four in the morning to be exact. It did not help her husband's case when he was there to let her know that their (really they were more like hers, and hers alone by now) children would be getting a tutor.

A tutor that would arrive the next day and Nana didn't have a say in anything, the brunette didn't even have the chance to _ask_ where her husband was. She made a strangled noise of frustration in her throat, resting forehead on the palms of her hands.

Really, she could only wait for so long before she just snapped.

It was almost like Iemitsu thought she had the temper of a saint, and if her husband saw how Tsuna was, he would be revaluating Nana again. Tsuna was more of saint than Nana was; although she was certain that Tsuna inherited her temper (mother's intuition).

Nana quickly ushered herself out her deflated face and into a bright one, hearing the door open and footsteps.

"Ka-san, we're home…"

"Welcome home-!" Nana nearly screamed, seeing bandages plastered on Hide's face while the brunet wore his gym clothes and revealing the tight wrap around one of his ankles. "Hi-kun what happened?!"

"Huh?" the brunet tilted his head as though he were fine despite having another boy holding him up, "Oh, oh this? Ah, just a little match, uh, got out of hand… Hah ha ha…"

Nana bit back her frown at her son's blatant lie but chose not to say anything. She instead looked over the new face of the boy that was holding Hide up, standing between him and Tsuna. The boy had a unique haircut and color, being silvery and having the prettiest green eyes Nana had seen. The brunette wondered who the boy was and felt her heart throb to know if the boy was friends with her sons. The silveret stood straight and if Nana paid any mind to the boy's attire she may have assumed the boy was one of those punk-kids that caused trouble and maybe give her reason to worry more, but Nana wasn't like that (that was how she even gave Iemitsu a chance after all).

She was more than happy to welcome a boy no matter his appearance, so long as he wasn't planning to hurt her children.

"Ara, is that so?" she smiled brightly with a sweet tone, "And hello, I haven't seen you with my children before. I'm Sawada Nana, please just call me Mama."

She hummed happily when the boy flustered up into a bright blush, completely missing the worried stares of the sons she was worried about.

"I-It's nice to meet Tenth's oka-sama! I'm Gokudera Hayato and hope to be Tenth's right-hand man!"

She giggled at how silly the silveret was, trying to bow while hold up Hide. Nana didn't know there were still other children at this age with such humble manners, and Tsuna was practically the only one she could see doing something like this. Nana did question what the boy meant by right-hand man though, she guessed it was one of the upcoming new fads of the day (oh, she was thinking like an old woman now).

"Ah, that's right! You two were late that you missed meeting Reborn-kun!" she clasped her hands, "He should be moving in upstairs, go and meet him!"

She ushered them all upstairs. Not paying attention to the three boys' confusion or unsettlement, as she was a little too excited to finally see her boys invite a friend over (although she was somber about Hide's appearance).

Hopefully the two would improve with the tutor that was joining them, even if he did seem a little off to the brunette. His promotion wasn't exactly what Nana could call usual either. Being a tutor was one thing but a child prodigy that would 'raise your kids to be the new leader of the next generation'?

Just what on earth does Iemitsu do?

…

Hide groaned and winced when Tsuna pulled the wraps on his ankle tighter.

The younger brunet had a blank face as he fixed up new bandages, while they sat in his room with Hayato watching them like a hawk and a strange baby in the room. Hide was honestly at a complete loss on what to say and wanted to point out the infant that was _clearly_ out of place in his room (especially since he was wearing a black suit and fedora like it was normal). He saw the hammock and suitcase and figured this was that 'Reborn' their mother talked about but still, he was confused to why there was a baby in his room. Not that Hide would say anything; he was too busy trying to figure out what was wrong with his brother.

He knew his brother well enough to know he was seriously pissed, why though, Hide had no ideas (well he had a few, being either that really weird kid who wouldn't leave no matter what and kept calling him 'Tenth' or the fact Hide is even being treated in the first place). While he was concerned about there was something else, somehow Tsuna looked a little edgy today, almost nervous about something which confused Hide as much as the suit-wearing baby.

With one last wrap, Tsuna tied it up and gave Hide a stern look that he would see scarcely on their mother when she was really upset. The brunet probably with have laughed at how uncanny it was for the twins to take after one of the parents, be it personality or appearance.

"Ni-san."

Hide gulped and nodded with a dejected look, he was probably not allowed to practice for while until the bruises went away. Sometimes he wondered who the older brother was, with the way Tsuna acted.

"Uh, but seriously," Hide turned his head with a light scowl at Hayato _still_ glaring daggers at Tsuna and at the infant who sipped at something that looked and smelled very much like coffee. "Who the hell are you guys?"

"Ciaosuu, I'm Reborn," He swore he saw the infant smirk (not smile, not grin but _smirk_), "The world's strongest hitman and starting today, your new tutor."

Hide's response was a blank pause.

"But my real job is to make Sawada Hidetada the next Vongola Decimo," Hide vaguely remembered hearing that somewhere but where he couldn't remember, "I was assigned by the Vongola Family's Ninth Generation Boss to come to Japan and raise you to become the next boss."

Something in his head finally clicked and Hide proceeded to choke on a mix of his spit and the air.

"WAIT, WAIT, WHAT." He coughed and screamed, gawking and then pointing to the silveret (that flinched oddly) with an accusing finger, "A-Are you telling me this von-von…"

"…Vongola."

"Oh, thanks uh," Hide stepped back on his train of thought, "That this vongola thing is the reason why you attacked me with those fireworks?!"

If he wasn't fuming mad or so confused he probably would have realized that those fireworks were more of bombs than anything.

"And what the hell do you think I'm going to eat this all up?! Seriously you guys are too suspicious get out before I call the police!" Hide huffed and had trouble not choking on his breaths, "And Gokudera I didn't even know who you were until today, hell until Tsuna came by after you tried _killing_ me I didn't even know your name?!"

Hide had a vague feeling his voice was quaking and definitely cracking from his yelling and was quite sure that his face was red though with the way it was burning.

"And stop glaring at my brother like he's some dirt!"

"R-Right, I'm sorry Tenth!" The silveret flinched back again then broke down into a kneeled bow, his head touching the floor with a disheartening thud that made Hide wince. "I should have realized the Tenth cared for his clone!"

"WOULD YOU STOP CALLING ME THAT, STOP CALLING TSU THAT, AND STOP ACTING LIKE I'M THE BOSS OF YOU!"

Hide slid back down with his face in hands and felt Tsuna hesitantly patting his shoulder. The smaller brunet looked to be a loss as much as he was but was doing a lot better at keeping calm for sure; Hide felt his anger deflate at that thought. Some older brother he was, the brunet breathed in slowly and let out long and heavy sigh.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry for that," he groaned, "Could we maybe go over this from the top… uh, Reborn right? You're who?"

He was mildly surprised the kid in front of him didn't start crying or scream at his screaming. Instead the kid seemed to have a bigger smirk on his face, almost like he amused by Hide's outburst.

"I'm not a kid, I'm a hitman," says the infant wearing a suit, Hide deadpanned at him, "And like I said, I'm here to train you baka-Hide to be a mafia boss and make sure dama-Tsuna isn't slacking off and defiling the Vongola name."

The brunet stared at him for a few seconds, he chose to ignore the insults put on his and his brother's names and tried to understand what the baby just said. Before anything Hide pointed a questioning finger at Hayato who was sitting up and looking at his knees. It was an odd thought but Hide was vaguely reminded of times when he would act and look the same when he was being scolded by either Tsuna or Nana.

"...And him?"

"He's Gokudera Hayato, or Smokin' Bomb Hayato," the baby was still smirking, "Another hitman that I called in to test you, though he was suppose to wait until tomorrow but good job baka-Hide. Gokudera became your subordinate because of your strength."

"S-Subordinate?!" Hide promptly choked again.

"Having the loser serve under the winner is a family rule."

"Oh, come on this mafia talk is stupid stop lying kid it isn't funny!" he growled, standing up now, "I'm calling the police, I'm sure they'll-!"

He was curtly cut off by a horrifying click and looked down to see the infant now at his feet holding a gun up towards his head. Unconsciously the boy's first action was to take a step back; feeling quite threatened even though the holder of the gun was a baby and the gun was probably a toy or something.

"This isn't a toy," the baby, Reborn said with his eyes covered by the rim of his hat and the smirk now gone, "And call the police and you'll regret it."

Hide was sure the baby was bluffing, there was no way their mother would let in a kid like this for no reason right? There was no way the gun was really real.

A bang sounded and something whizzed past Hide's ear just scrapping the lobe, he spun around to look at the wall and saw there was now a still smoking-hole in his wall. Hide felt himself pale, it was real. The boy backed away, pulling back his brother who shocked Hide in the midst of this as his face was straight and not even remotely panicked. He was just outright confused when he saw Tsuna looking questioningly at him, like he hadn't heard or seen the bullet that was shoot by Hide's head. His brother stepped out of his reach with a small bemused smile and walked forward to the not-so-innocent baby, Hide wanted to protest loudly and run straight out of the room with his brother but Tsuna was already saying something before he could.

"You shouldn't play with dangerous looking toys, Reborn-san."

Hide for the third time that day choked, was Tsuna being serious? Even that silveret fireworks guy was looking dubiously at him, losing the glare and acting like his brother had grown a second head or something.

Today was really full of surprises, not very many good ones. From finding out the rumors concerning the kendo team being true, having someone try killing him out of the blue with things he thought were _fireworks_ then blanking out for a moment (vaguely feeling something hit his forehead painfully) and coming to seeing the said person now groveling at his feet like he was some god _while_ Hide was in his boxers, coming home and learning he and Tsuna have a tutor, then learning that said tutor was a baby and finally finding out that baby was a _hitman_ here to make _Hide _a freaking _mafia boss_ of some group he didn't even know how to say at first. Now here was his younger brother calling the baby's very, very real gun a 'toy' right after Hide was quite literally shot at.

Hide wondered briefly if he was just going insane from being tired and somehow he had an odd nagging feeling that he would be feeling like this for a while.


End file.
